Its probably not the same for everyone, I find a mother's voice one of the most comforting sounds. Was told before that I share an awesome relationship with my mother and I usually shrug it off. Because I thought its the same for everyone. Dont everyone get along with their mother? Afterall, we live in her for 9 months.

Must say, mom and I didn't always get along. I admit I was a difficult child; spoilt by daddy and grandma and was stubborn as a mule. My mum was just being mother-like; strict and protective and always thinks she is right! (Though, most times in my tweens, she probably were. Dont tell her that).

But it got so much better as I grew older, I take her "criticisms" less personally and she was less uptight about all the mistakes I may make. Today, yes, we still get into fights, she still complains about me to me and gives me the staredown when she disagree with my actions. Nonetheless, we hardly at all bear grudges (i secretly thinks she does though *smiles*).

This evening I called my mummy as I was grocery shopping - asking her what is the ideal soup for a post cataract surgery patient ie. Blacksman. She gave me a couple tips and we hung up the phone. Somehow, that telephone conversation made me smile. It was just a comfort to hear my mom's voice. Its like I know I can rely on her for anything.

Thanks Mum for everything.

Seriously. First we crown a Ms Singapore World who can't speak English to save her life. Then we find out that she is a fraudster who has 60 impending charges of credit card fruad against her.

But we still glorify her by giving her a 2 FULL PAGE spread in the main paper of Sunday times.

What's up with our newspaper?

Beauty Peagant winner. Fraudster. And now Bi-polar. How much attention are we going to give this woman. I rather the newspaper interview the needy of Singapore. The good deeds of any particular Singapore. Anything but her. Let the news die, take the spotlight away. Can't you see you are just feeding her desires?

Seriously. We need to move on and focus on more significant issues. Otherwise, we will just be like her. BOOMZ.

Who are we to laugh at Ris Low?

Because we are Singapore.
Because Ris Low is representing Singapore.
Because I believe deep down, no matter how much we complained about this country, we are patriots and we are proud of the achievements from this little fishing village.

I admit I am guilty. I was one of those who viewed the video interview of Miss Singapore World 09, Ris Low, and laughed. Mostly, I was appalled at how she won.

But after reading last Sunday's newspaper, I was even more taken aback by the words of Ms Jennifer Yin, Head secretariat of the Speak Good English Movement.

"If you can't speak good English, don't even attempt to speak to them in broken English..." makes me wonder how old Ms Yin is. I am in my late 20s and many of our parents in my generation did not have the priviledge of higher education. Their English is not fluent and their Mother Tongue may not be perfect. Is Ms Yin insuitating that our parents then do not speak to us at all? Isn't it through every day communication, every day use that you improve your language skills?

What consitutes good English? Do we pronouce every syllable or do we attempt to speak with an accent? Singlish like all other "forms" of English is a slang. It is a nationalistic way of speaking in Singapore. Much like the local slang of Australia, USA and UK. I am sure Singaporeans are not criticising that Ms Ris Low speaks Singlish but her pronouniciation was appaling and her diction was unclear.

Ms Yin also mentioned that she hears Ms Low's speech patterns on the train from young people. Well, I am not sure what train she has been on (probably another planet) but from where I came from (Singapore), young people do not say "rad", "preens" or "zip-bra".

While it is heartwarming to read Ms Tracy Lee defending Ms Ris Low, I do disagree with her statement that "this is a beauty contest". We need to remember that beauty contests as such are also platforms to showcase Singapore to the rest of the world. We may not win. We may not even get to semi-finals. But who we send is a representation of our country. She will have the chance to network with representatives from other countries. She will serve as an ambassador of our nation.

Do we want other countries to know Singapore as one that "boomz"?

I hardly blog these days. Lack of time, no inspiration, pure laziness.

But today, I stumbled upon the video on Singapore's representative for Miss Universe and god she is stupid. Stupid and not that pretty. The picture of her on the Miss Universe website looks like a porn star, she can pass of as a ka-toi and her video interview shows how stupid she is.

Rachel Kum is her name - should change it to Rachel KUM-GONG.

If you have 3 wishes, what would they be.

1) My first wish is wishing happiness for myself.
2) My second wish is wishing happiness for all mankind. - Stupidity starting to show.
3) My third wish is wishing to have more wishes!

OMG, and she is a manager in the medical industry. HELP!

Where got ghost?

Hei and I went to watch "Where got ghost" on Friday night. Its a new local production by Jack Neo.

3 ghost stories with comedic elements in them. Well, it wasn't that good, or that funny plus the animation really sucked, but all in all, i thought the idea behind it was quite good. Its quite an enjoyable film.

This morning was Singapore Bay Run/Army Half Marathon. It was my worst yet, but attribute to a diarrorea that occured in my 3km mark - resulted in a 20 min bomb at the first toilet (2 km away). Lousy because at i started, i really thought i would do quite well this time.

Not disappointed with myself, but wonder what holds for me the next time i do this.

Anyway, this is my favourite trailer by far. You know how normally before a movie starts, you get the trailer that ask you to turn your phone to silent. This is a funny one.

Tell me what you think about this.

This evening, Hei and I went on a dinner date at Himawari. A Japanese restaurant that serve ala carte buffet - includes shabu shabu and sukiyaki. Yums.

Anyway. Sitting next to us a group of 9 adults and 1 toddler. When Hei and I arrive, there was only 1 lady sitting at the table and when asked how many people will be coming, she said "8 adults, all buffet".

Soon after, her group of friends arrived and I noticed there were 9 adults instead of the original 8 she mentioned.

Then i realised 2 of her friends brought their domestic helper and what I thought was rather appaling was that the domestic helper did not eat. She was just busy feeding the toddler.

So the woman was right, 8 adult buffet dinner.

In this scenario, would you have just invited the domestic helper to have dinner together? I would. Hei would too.

Granted that it was about $40 per person, but if you are to bring your domestic helper out, why would you make her sit there just to watch you eat?

That's just cruel.

The DeMercurio Family left last Saturday on the morning flight back to Melbourne.

Although it was not the first time that Lin left Singapore, she cried as she hugged us good bye. Chiing cried, Ah-Ma Wee cried.

But the most heart wrenching moment was for me to see tears rolling down A-Gong Wee's cheeks as well. This is a father who has sent 3 daughters away to study and for the first time, he can't bear to see someone off.

"You make A-Gong so happy" - thats a phrase I hear so often the last 2 weeks.

I was the heartless one. Devoid of all feelings.

I wonder should 1 day I have a child, would A-Gong Wee say the same to my son/daughter?

On the lovely Saturday afternoon after we came back from Hong Kong, the Wee Family welcome back the DeMercurio Family. Bruno, Teresa, Mark, Lin and of course, little lovely Aless. A fan club of about 11 people waited (some more impatient than others) at the arrival gate and when they finally walked out of the gate, A-Gong Wee couldn't help but lunge little Aless into his arms.

The moment was magical as we watched A-Gong Wee's eyes twinkle as he played with his BOY.

After 20 mins of hugging, "hi-s" and "how-are-you", I finally managed to come up with a plan and whisked everyone to the car.

However, in the midst of happiness, the Tay family received grim news. Senior Tay was in the hospital again for a fever that won't subside. It was serious this time. The following week was then spent shuttling between work, Chelsea and SGH.

The Tay family is amazing. For a family who don't share affection openly like the Wees, when it comes time to band together, they really band together. All the sibling respected what each had to say and their strength for each other really shows. Each also know his/her own role and how to carry their duties out.

Unfortunately on Friday, 1st August 2009, at 6.41am, Senior Tay couldn't hang on to life anymore and passed away.

Hei broke down.

And my heart ached.

Nonetheless, the Tays came together again, united as ONE. The funeral proceedings when through smoothly without a hitch.

One night as we laied in bed, Hei said something that got me thinking; "Isn't it weird how your family is celebrating life while mine is moaning for death?"

The Wees was throwing a party for A-Gong Wee's 60th, Aless's 2nd, Lin's 35 and Teresa (dunno).

That's life isn't it?

My first blog entry from my iPhone. Mebbe first let me talk bout it a bit. I love it. My phone is not only entertaining, it's alson intelligent and interactive. This phone really makes u loge it a little more everyday. Well done apple. Good job.

It's been a while since I last blog. So long that I can't really recall what has happen since then.

Hei and I r going to hong kong on Sunday for 4 days! It's been a year and a half since we came back from USA and our first holiday since being back. I am so freaking excited man. So excited yet so unsure what we r gonna do there. He hasn't been to hk before and I've only been once before for work so it's almost the first time as well. So exciting.

It seems to be a relationship season. I'm was sorry to hear that 4 of my friends broke up with their partners but hearten to learn that 1 is in like and dating and 1 is in love. I'm still in love. With mr blackman. Althouh he does irritates me as I do him but we r good. Great. Awesome. Perfect.

This is me in the morning on the train. Random thoughts.

Till another long train ride. Over and out

On Friday dawn, I woke up to an SMS from Elin that says "MJ is dead. Dont feel so sad ok?". For a moment, I was shocked. Running through my head was the person that MJ stands for. I thought of my Grandma but we didnt call her MJ. Sleepiness got the better of my, i shrug it off and went back to bed.

It was only after I trule woke up then i realise, she must mean Michael Jackson.

And if you are wondering why my sister will ask me not to feel too sad. That's cos I was a HUGE fan of MJ. Michael Jackson was born 29 August 1958. I was born 1 September 1982. Because our birthdays are only 2 days apart, as a kid, I always thought him and I have a special connection.

Michael was my first love. I sang his songs. I wore his t-shirt (til it faded). I went to his concert. I taped over Echiing's beloved Madonna's Immaculate concert with Michael's B&W MTV. I even cried when those stupid children sued him for molestation. And every year for my birthday, my wish was to go to Neverland Ranch.

"Man in the Mirror" was my favourite song. And in those days with where Internet was not available, I wrote his lyrics down while listening to the song again and again.

As a kid, I never imagine Michael growing old. Or dying. He was 50 when he died.

Over the entire weekend, I watched documentaries of Michael, news coverage of his passing and his music videos...something rekindled inside. And guilt rushed over me because I felt that I had abandoned him for the past 10 - 15 years.

I am sorry. And rest in peace. You are to me what Elvis is to my dad and tho I am not as fanatical, you were my first love. Even before Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels. =)

From my dear friend many moons ago

Eck has been bad...Eck has been shopping like crazy...

Eck must stop.

Much has happened since my last entry

On a global front;
1) H1N1 (or my husband calls it Hi-Ni) flu has taken over the world with Melbourne now known as the flu capital of the world.
2) General Motors declared bankruptcy, another blow to the automotive industry of United States
3) N.Korea launced a nuclear thingy into space
4) A plane disappeared and resurfaced (crashed) 2 days later

....list goes on

On a national front
1) Singapore has now 15 cases of H1N1
2) National Day tickets are all given out. No surprise there.
3) Singapore Idol began its auditions for this season. *groan*
4) Great Singapore Sales began
5) Temperature inches higher on a daily basis

...and the list goes on

On a home front
1) Eck is back from Vietnam - good event. happy with herself, but sees room for improvement.
2) Capt Black is gonna be Major Black - CONGRATULATIONS
3) Blaeck are both hooked on the new channel 8 drama series "The Ultimatum" - cheesy and old plot but entertaining.

Today, I finally took Kaykay out for a short jog round the neighbourhood, afterwhich we climbed 17 floors back up to the apartment. Man, that was tiring but really fulfilling. Time to relax and time for ourselves.

INJUST!

If you have not watch "Angels and Demons" and want to, maybe you shouldn't read this entry.

I considered myself a fan of Dan Brown even only after reading 2 books. DaVinci's Code and Angels and Demons really drew me into the story, I hang onto every single word and didn't mind sacrificing sleep just to read 1 more chapter. The storyline was refreshing, the suspense was captivating and the characters were interesting.

Although DaVinci's Code, the movie, strayed from the book (due to the book's sheer length) but it covered the very essence of story. Symbols were explained, characters remain true. The movie didn't rush through the story.

But Angels and Demons, the movie, sucked BIG TIME. It is TOTALLY nothing like the book.

1) Where was the Director of Cern in the whole movie? He was the one who read the journals and realise that master mind.
2) Robert Langdon met Vittoria at Cern when Vittoria's adopted father was found dead with the Illuminati brand was found on his chest! Vittoria did not discover Silvano's body. There wasn't a team of scientists working on the anti-matter project. Only 2 people knew about this project - Vittoria and her father! Robert Langdon was first called to Cern. Vittoria was in another country when her father was killed!
3) How come the Carmalengo spoke in part scottish, part italian, part british accent?
4) The Carmalengo did not run so calmly out into St Peter Sq, asked the helicopter pilot to get down. He ran out like a crazy man with Robert at his heels, pull the pilot of and Robert got onto the helicoptor just as it got off the ground! That's where he discovered the mastermind behind the whole kidnapping. Carmalengo parachute off the heli and leave Robert to die. Robert jumped off and landed in a river....
5) Where was the guide at the Patheon that "helped" Robert and Vittoria find the first marker?

And many many more flaws. Its so disappointing and I am hardly disappointed with movies. I actually found this movie boring!

And to this note, after the movie, I overhead a conversation between this dude, whom i suspect is trying to impress his girlfriend and his friends by saying "Wah, what a great movie. It's exactly like the book and its great to actually see it on screen". BLAH!

I must say however, and it does sound a little perverse. As I read the book, i visualise in my mind the scenes and the scene of the 3 cardinals' murder was exactly the same as in my mind.

What's your ultimate loathe?

My ultimate loathe is people who dont voluntarily give up their seat for the senior citizens on public transport. Especially those who sits at the corner seats which is designated for preggies, children, handicap or seniors.

And especially when they pretend to be sick or nauseous or sleeping when someone else does give up their seat.

We need to be more gracious. Please people.

I took KayKay out again today to Sengkang after 1 week of rest. Hei also to Nike12 out too, same route but he was of course much faster. But it all good, enjoyed myself.

Hei and I went to watch "Taken" on Saturday. Good morning, realistic background, a little unbelievable lead but overall, disturbing. Its a great movie I, as a woman, rather not watch.

"Taken" is about a 17 year old girl who decides to spend the summer with her friend in Paris. At the airport, they met "Peter" who is actually part of a syndicate out to kidnap female tourists, forces drugs into their system (making them addicts) and then pimps them as prostitutes. "Pure bloods" or virgins are then auction off to the highest bidder in a high society auction, paying up to $250k. Liam Neeson, the father, went to Paris to hunt down this syndicate and find his daughter.

I am sure this is real. In America, Ive watch several news / documentary on missing women in Europe and South America. The families have never received a ranson note nor any traces of them going missing. Its almost as if these women just disappeared from the face of this world.

This is a scary world we live in. Sometimes, its almost cannibalistic.

Spoke to Hairyboobs over msn today.

My god, I have know this woman for 10 years. Going 11 actually. Yet sometimes I feel like I dunno her at all. Always surprise me and Im amazed by how much/little she has grown over the past few years. hiak hiak.

For one she has certainly blossom into a full woman. Long femine curls and dresses and makeup has made her into an eye candy. But her inability to decide has not changed. Though I must give her credit for not saying "you eat what i eat what" these days. Plus, the fact is, she is probably the smartest person i know. Pursuing her PHD....she is the last person you would imagine to have a Permanent Head Damage....except if it was literal. And sometimes I do think she does suffer from it.

I love her deep deep la...stupid girl.

And we have iGeek....she has changed so much physically and "mentally?" that no ex-school mate ever recognise her in public. Yes, as iGeek will say..her boobs has changed...from a proud 80B, she will say now she has dwindled into a A cup. It has been a long time now since her BALD days but her adventures with heels is still much to be anticipated. "I walk up a hill to work" she says. Or "I cherish my knees". Nonetheless, this girl has a heart of gold.

I also love her long time....stupid girl.

Kayano and I spent some time together again. I am begining to feel the love coming back to me. Kayano treated me very well and we did about 6km together this evening. Jogging almost 90% of the way.

Looking for more private time with Kay...the love is back.

I went for a walk/jog earlier.

Woke at 7ish to send Hei to a bbal competition and saw joggers and felt inspired. So after I got home, I changed into my FBT and addidas and took kayano out.

Noted how I put walk before jog? Cos thats mainly what I did. 6km and i think i only managed to jog 2.4 or so.

Im sure even Kayano is disappointed.

As I was walking, I thought about all the excuses that made me not jog....sun was too hot, road was uneven, no other joggers so no role model. But its just me. I should just make my jogging more regular again. 4 months between jogs is not acceptable. Besides as I get older, I have less will power!

I remembered the first time I actually went out for a jog. About 2 years younger and had plently of will power and mental strength to tell myself to keep going.

Times has changed.

Discipline...come bestow yourself upon me.